Major points about social networking are laid out in comScore’s “It’s A Social World: Top 10 Need-to-Knows About Social Networking and Where It’s Headed” report. This post focuses on the report’s first two “need-to-knows”: how social networking is the most popular activity online, and the similarities and differences that crop up in social networking behavior across the globe.
Social networking sites reach 82% of the world’s online population, and social networking is the most popular content category in worldwide online engagement. While social networking accounted for only 6% of time spent online back in 2007, in October 2011 it accounted for 19% of time online – roughly 1 in 5 minutes spent online is dedicated to social networking across the globe.
Each region – North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa – saw a 35% increase in time spent by users on social networking in the past year. At least 24% of all time spent online was dedicated to social networking in Latin America, Europe and the Middle East & Africa.
Latin Americans Embrace the Social Web
While Israel, Argentina and Russia spend the most total time on social networks, the percentage of time spent on social networks was highest overall in the region of Latin America, at 28%. In contrast, those in the Asia Pacific region spend only 11% of total time online with social networks.
Latin Americans spent an average of 7.6 hours per user in October 2011 on social networking sites, more than double the slightly less than 3 hours the Asia Pacific region averaged. The comScore report declares that “Latin Americans have embraced the social web in a way that reflects an effusive social culture in the region” and the region claims 5 of the top 10 most socially-engaged markets across the globe.
Women Spend More Time On Social Networks Than Men
The report also revealed that females (age 15 and older) spend more time social networking than their male counterparts across the globe. Not surprisingly, Latin American females average the highest number of hours on social networking sites, 8.2 hours vs. 6.9 hours for Latin American men. Women spent around two hours more than men on social networking sites in both North America and Europe in October 2011. On average globally, women spend 1.5 more hours per month than men on social networks.
To download the full comScore report, click here.
